A little perspective on how Traci Carter compares so far to select four-year point guards from Marquette's past — and what this might mean for his future. First, let's take a look at some raw stats from their freshman seasons:
Traci Carter — 6'0" 175
5.1 ppg 2.6 rpg 4.3 apg .346 FG% .353 3PT%
Derrick Wilson — 6'1" 210
0.6 ppg 1.1 rpg 0.7 apg .375 FG% .000 3PT%
Junior Cadougan — 6'1" 205
0.3 ppg 0.4 rpg 0.3 apg .000 FG% .000 3PT%
Dominic James — 5'11" 180
15.3 ppg 4.5 rpg 5.4 apg .431 FG% .301 3PT%
Travis Diener — 6'1" 175
7.9 ppg 2.5 rpg 2.6 apg .430 FG% .442 3PT%
Cordell Henry — 5'10" 170
7.2 ppg 2.6 rpg 3.2 apg .332 FG% .321 3PT%
Tony Miller — 6'0" 185
6.4 ppg 4.4 rpg 7.6 apg .353 FG% .364 3PT%
Tony Smith — 6'3" 185
8.1 ppg 3.3 rpg 2.1 apg .534 FG% .333 3PT%
A few basic takeaways for me: 1) Dominic James was simply awesome. A player we haven't seen the likes of at PG since the glory days of Al. 2) The experience Traci gets this year is invaluable. Cadougan played in just 12 games and averaged 3.9 mpg his first season. 3) Traci isn't ever going to be the leading scorer for Marquette like James, Diener or Smith. No surprise there. But he's a better shooter than Derrick or Junior, good enough to contribute and help keep defenses honest. 4) While Traci doesn't match up with Tony Miller in terms of assists (who does?), he could be one of the best distributors at Marquette in some time.
Now, for a little reassurance about freshman and their potential, here are the stats each of those players put up during their senior seasons.
Derrick Wilson
5.6 ppg 3.9 rpg 4.7 apg .412 FG% .231 3PT%
Junior Cadougan
8.5 ppg 2.9 rpg 3.8 apg .431 FG% .226 3PT%
Dominic James
11.0 ppg 3.4 rpg 5.0 apg .424 FG% .284 3PT%
Travis Diener
19.7 ppg 3.9 rpg 7.0 apg .420 FG% .405 3PT%
Cordell Henry
15.2 ppg 2.4 rpg 3.2 apg .457 FG% .376 3PT%
Tony Miller
10.8 ppg 4.7 rpg 7.5 apg .332 FG% .337 3PT%
Tony Smith
23.8 ppg 4.7 rpg 5.8 apg .495 FG% .414 3PT%
In other words, based on what I've seen from Traci this season and point guards of the recent past, I feel confident about the future of the team at this position.
